


A Sea Change

by sevenall



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: King Juvor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 19:03:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6622558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenall/pseuds/sevenall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sea Change

When Tula was twelve years old, King Juvor brought her to the site where her parents had perished. It was a few hundred yards south-east off O'ahu, the waters hot and ripe with tropical scents. Together they planted the first of many corals that would, in time, grow into a memory reef. King Juvor had selected lobe coral for the monument and was pleased to see Tula handle the fragile structures with care and reverence.When she was done, he put an arm around her shoulders in a rare show of affection.

Barely six months later, the Chinese ship 'Apple Blossom' ran aground outside the entrance to Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor. More than 25,000 tons of granular cement had to be dumped overboard before the vessel could be dislodged. King Juvor's gardeners reported severe damages to Barbers Point Reef and the corals Tula had planted were either crushed or washed away.

"Damn surfacers," King Juvor swore, but without heat, because some of the crew off the 'Apple Blossom' had drowned and landsmen valued the lives of their own, too. This was not a hostile act.

He gave the necessary orders, which included restricting access to the area until the cement had settled. Then he sent his some of his strongest swimmers to keep broken corals from damaging intact coral fields and some of the other swimmers to keep an eye on the surfacers in their small boats.

==

It was days before King Juvor found the time to tell Tula the news and embarrassment certainly played a part in the delay. He had meant the monument to be a gift and more than that. A remedial for all the time he hadn't spent with her. A reward for lessons learnt and for being no trouble to him.

"It's gone?" Tula said.

There was no note of reproach in her voice, but King Juvor had to look away. He had, in a moment of weakness and emotion, told her that lobe corals grow for four hundred years or more. He'd told her that he intended a living, growing memorial to keep alive the memory of her parents, who had also been his friends. He might even have quoted some Shakespeare, probably that damnable quote about how as long as men shall live and eyes can see, hm hm hm hm and that gives life to thee.

"Once the cement has been cleared out, you can start another," he said gruffly. "Should be a couple of months at most. The gardeners will be working on Barbers Point Reef, of course, but they'll give you a hand."

During the day, sunlight filtered down to the rooms on the top floor and made them glow with greenish light. The spear-head Tula had been cleaning lay on a greasy rag across her lap. The light reflected off the metal, almost painfully bright.

"O'ahu," she said softly. "Lot sof ships go through there, don't they, Uncle?"

King Juvor blinked.

"I suppose they do."

Unregistered ships sailing under false flags, some hardly more than leaking hulks. Rinsing out their tanks or dumping the illegal parts of their cargoes as soon as they were out of

"And the crews, they are drunk all the time?"

The surfacers with their short attention spans and pre-occupation with recreational drugs. Certainly seemed that way.

"My dear girl, I wouldn't say…"

"I've heard you say it. In Council and at dinner. There are songs about it, too."

Her eyes flashed, like the sudden unsheathing of a blade, and King Juvor was reminded that he had raised her a warrior, not a scholar.

"I did", he said sternly, to put her in her place. "I also sent rescue parties to O'ahu. Lives were lost, niece."

She nodded, biting her lip.

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry, uncle. But what's the point? There'll be another ship."

King Juvor sat down beside her.

"You're quite right," he said gently. "Sooner or later, there'll be another ship. Probably sooner, if I know landsmen. They'll aim for the harbour entrance and miss, maybe spill a few thousand gallons of oil while they're at it and wipe out life for hundreds of miles. That's not the point. The point is, do you want the monument or not?"

"I do," Tula whispered.

"Then I'll round up the gardeners and we'll go out tomorrow," King Juvor said.

==

Epilogue:

Years later, as King Juvor lay dying, he called for his niece. It was quite unnecessary to do so, since she hadn't left his side for days, but his eyesight was failing along with his heart.

"I'm here, Uncle," Tula said

"The things I taught you," he whispered. "Forget them."

"What, that the sea gives and the sea takes away?"

"That one is still true." A breath. "No. The rest. About letting go. You shouldn't."

Tula smiled, although her eyes were wet.

"Oh, Uncle," she said. "You never taught me that."

THE END  
==


End file.
